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Marvel Snap: Apocalypse Deck Guide and Best Decks

Let's look at how to use one of Marvel Snap's most consistently powerful cards, Apocalypse!

One of Marvel Snap’s most consistent deck types is the discard archetype that features Apocalypse as a key card in their setup. These decks are popular due to the variety of great synergistic cards available in Marvel Snap. As such, some of the best Apocalypse decks in Marvel Snap have persisted across the ever-changing meta of the game. That’s why today I’m going to guide you through some of the best Apocalypse decks in Marvel Snap along with the tools necessary to play them to their full potential.

Let’s get right into my guide to the best Apocalypse decks in Marvel Snap!

General Apocalypse Deck Strategies

Apocalypse is a 6-Cost/8-Power card that returns to your hand with +4 Power each time it is discarded. This makes it an ideal card to build a discard deck around since any card that can discard Apocalypse has great synergy with it. Using these cards, Apocalypse can quickly become a turn-six drop that is even stronger than its base 8 Power would have you believe.

Apocalypse Deck #1: Standard Discard

Sunspot
1-Cost/0-Power
Nebula
1-Cost/1-Power
Morbius
2-Cost/0-Power
Wolverine
2-Cost/2-Power
Swarm
2-Cost/3-Power
Colleen Wing
2-Cost/4-Power
Moon Knight
3-Cost/3-Power
Lady Sif
3-Cost/4-Power
Sword Master
3-Cost/6-Power
Dracula
4-Cost/0-Power
Apocalypse
6-Cost/8-Power
America Chavez
6-Cost/9-Power

This deck setup is fairly standard for discard decks in Marvel Snap and serves as a great basis for experimenting with Apocalypse-focused strategies. While the majority of the cards in this deck either help discard cards from your hand or benefit from being discarded, there are a few others that serve as supporter cards. Sunspot and Nebula are two of these cards and are mostly in this deck as a 1-Cost card that can benefit from turns when you can’t play anything.

Focus on Discarding Apocalypse as Much as Possible

There are several 2-Cost cards in this deck that are incredibly helpful to its overall strategy. Morbius gains Power for every card you discard, and Wolverine and Swarm both benefit from being discarded. Colleen Wing discards the lowest-Cost card in your hand, so she is helpful for targeting these two specific cards. On the other hand, Lady Sif is a critical card to have in this deck since she discards the highest-Cost card in your hand, meaning she is guaranteed to target Apocalypse if he’s in your hand. Moon Knight and Sword Master are also solid options for discarding cards. However, they have the downside of their targets being random.

Let Dracula Discard Apocalypse

Two other key cards in this deck are Dracula and America Chavez. They both make perfect companions for Apocalypse since Dracula will discard a random card from your hand and gain its Power at the end of the game, and America Chavez helps ensure you can end the game with Apocalypse in your hand. Since America Chavez is a guaranteed turn-six draw, you won’t draw her before, meaning it’s more likely that you’ll draw Apocalypse and other key cards you will need.

Apocalypse Deck #2: MODOK Discard

Blade
1-Cost/3-Power
Morbius
2-Cost/0-Power
The Collector
2-Cost/2-Power
Wolverine
2-Cost/2-Power
Swarm
2-Cost/3-Power
Colleen Wing
2-Cost/4-Power
Lady Sif
3-Cost/4-Power
Dracula
4-Cost/0-Power
Hellcow
4-Cost/8-Power
MODOK
5-Cost/8-Power
Apocalypse
6-Cost/8-Power
America Chavez
6-Cost/9-Power

A variation of the standard discard deck in Marvel Snap is the MODOK discard deck. This deck is another perfect deck to feature Apocalypse since it can make granting Dracula Apocalypse’s Power at the end of a match even stronger. To do this, there is a specific order you will want to play cards to ensure Apocalypse ends up with the optimal amount of Power for victory.

Take Advantage of The Collector, Swarm, and Colleen Wing

Blade is the only 1-Cost card in this deck, but his ability to discard the farthest right card in your hand is helpful for targeting specific cards for discard. Morbius once again appears in this deck since he can greatly benefit from any cards being discarded. The Collector, Swarm, and Colleen Wing form their own mini-combo that can be incredibly powerful. Discarding Swarm as many times as possible throughout the match will create more copies of the card and power up The Collector and Morbius each time, and Colleen Wing is a great card to target Swarm with.

Pair Key Cards with MODOK to Maximize Apocalypse’s Power

Lady Sif, Dracula, and America Chavez return in this deck as well and serve a similar purpose as in the standard discard deck. Hellcow is another great card to use for discarding cards because it can discard two at a time. The key strategy for success with this deck is to play Dracula on turn four, MODOK on turn five to discard your entire hand, and then America Chavez on turn six. Ideally, this strategy would allow Apocalypse to hopefully be discarded multiple times so that at the end of the game, he gives Dracula 16 or more Power.

Apocalypse Deck #3: Hela Discard

Blade
1-Cost/3-Power
Morbius
2-Cost/0-Power
Wolverine
2-Cost/2-Power
Gambit
3-Cost/3-Power
Daken
3-Cost/4-Power
Lady Sif
3-Cost/4-Power
Dracula
4-Cost/0-Power
Silver Samurai
4-Cost/5-Power
Hellcow
4-Cost/8-Power
Hela
6-Cost/6-Power
Apocalypse
6-Cost/8-Power
Helicarrier
6-Cost/10-Power

Another variation of the standard discard deck focuses on Hela and her ability to bring discarded cards back to the field. Once again, Apocalypse is the perfect complement to this strategy since he can give his Power to Dracula, freeing you up to play Hela on turn six. The rest of this deck focuses on discarding high-Power cards to then be revived by Hela for a huge Power swing on turn six. As such, staple cards like Blade, Morbius, and Wolverine can be found in this deck alongside other useful additions.

Support Apocalypse with these Discard Cards

Gambit is great in this deck since he can destroy one of your opponent’s cards while discarding a card from your hand at the same time. Daken’s ability to double his Power when the Muramasa is discarded from your hand makes him a worthwhile addition to this deck as well. You’ll also find other staple discard cards like Lady Sif, Dracula, and Hell Cow that pair well with Apocalypse as well. Silver Samurai is also a useful card in this deck since he forces you and your opponent to discard the lowest Power card in your hand, making it easy to target cards like Muramasa and Wolverine.

Helicarrier and Hela Can Save the Day

Discarding Helicarrier is crucial to the success of Hela’s strategy. When discarded, Helicarrier adds three random cards to your hand. These cards serve as further discard fodder and can end up being revived by Hela on turn six. Apocalypse serves as a great alternative win condition for this deck in case Helicarrier or Hela are not drawn since he can easily reach 16+ Power which can be passed along to Dracula at the end of the match.

Upsides

  • Consistent strategy
  • Lots of synergy with discard cards
  • Easy to substitute cards for different deck variations
  • Not many counters

Utilizing Apocalypse in a discard deck has some great advantages in Marvel Snap. For one, this deck has a consistent strategy that tends to be more effective than not. As such, your win rate can become much more stable and help you climb towards Infinite Rank much more efficiently. There are also lots of cards that have great synergy with Apocalypse and the core cards of this deck type. This variety makes it easy to substitute cards and try out different deck variations to fine-tune a deck to your liking. There also isn’t a universal counter to this deck type beyond trying to limit the activation of On Reval effects with Cosmo, or remove the Ongoing ability of a card like Morbius with Rogue.

Downsides

  • Predictable 
  • Requires specific card combos for victory
  • Some discard cards choose random targets

There are some downsides to this deck type that you will want to be aware of when considering whether or not to build one yourself. Due to its consistency, Apocalypse discard decks tend to be predictable. This makes it easy for opponents to anticipate what cards you will play and set up a counter strategy. There is also a specific curve you need to play on in order for most of these decks’ strategies to come together. For example, you should ideally play Lady Sif on turn three, but not having Apocalypse in your hand can be devastating since it means she could discard another crucial card like MODOK or Hela. While cards like Lady Sif and Blade will have predictable targets, other discard cards like Hellcow choose random ones. This can lead to situations where a crucial card is discarded that you had no control over.

Core Cards

  • Apocalypse: As the lynchpin in these decks, Apocalypse is a must-use. However, there are a few other cards that should be used in tandem to maximize his utility.
  • Lady Sif: Since Lady Sif discards the highest-Power card in your hand, she is a great way to consistently discard Apocalypse and Power him up. In most cases, if you have Apocalypse in your hand, he will be the most Powerful card. This means you should play Lady Sif whenever Apocalypse is in your hand to ensure he gets at least one round of Power-ups.
  • Dracula: Rather than needing to play Apocalypse on turn six, you can save your energy and transfer his power to Dracula at the end of the game. This is the most important combo in this deck, and you will want to ensure Apocalypse is the only card remaining in your hand when the game ends. Since Dracula discards the card whose Power he gains, he will get an additional +4 Power if Apocalypse is his target.
  • Morbius: Morbius is the perfect companion to Apocalypse since he gains +2 Power every time a card is discarded. Since the goal of these decks is to discard Apocalypse as many times as possible, Morbius will naturally get a significant Power boost. Additional cards that are discarded will also increase his Power, making it a necessity to include this card in your deck.

Flex Cards

While these cards aren’t a requirement for success in an Apocalypse deck, they can support the core cards of this deck type. As such, they can be substituted interchangeably within the decks listed above.

  • Blade: As a 1-Cost discard card with some degree of reliability in targeting specific cards for discarding, Blade is a solid addition to any Apocalypse deck. While he isn’t as consistent or useful as a card like Lady Sif, being a 1-Cost card makes him easy to play and can potentially result in an additional Apocalyse discard.
  • MODOK: MODOK is a perfect companion for Apocalypse decks because it will guarantee you discard Apocalypse if he’s in your hand and almost assuredly discard Apocalypse with Dracula’s ability. The drawback to MODOK is potentially losing other key cards from your hand when his ability activates. As such, MODOK is a great optional card to have, but not necessarily a requirement for success in an Apocalypse deck.
  • Colleen Wing: While Colleen Wing is unlikely to discard Apocalyse from your hand, she can help clear it up for Dracula to discard Apocalypse at the end of the game. Her ability to discard the lowest-Cost card from your hand can be helpful in clearing out cards like Wolverine or Blade to ensure Apocalypse gets chosen by Dracual’s ability.
  • America Chavez: America Chavez is a staple of many different deck types since her ability to only be drawn on turn six as a guaranteed draw increases the odds that the other key cards you need will be drawn before then. This is perfect for an Apocalypse deck since you will often want to draw cards like Lady Sif, Dracula, and Apocalypse in a certain order. Since America Chavez starts at the bottom of your deck and is guaranteed to be drawn on turn six, it’s essentially increasing the odds of drawing the card you need on prior turns from 1 in 12 to 1 in 11. 

When to Snap and Favorable Locations

Since most Apocalypse decks need very specific cards for their win conditions to occur, it can be tricky to know when to snap. A good rule of thumb is to snap when you have Dracula on the field and Apocalypse in your hand. An even better situation to snap in is when you have Dracula on the field, Apocalypse in your hand, and MODOK in your hand on turn five. This means you can discard your entire hand, leaving only Apocalypse and America Chavez on turn six. Play America Chavez the next turn in the best location, and Dracula should discard Apocalypse at the end of the match and secure you a win. There are also some favorable locations that you should consider snapping when you see.

  • Kamar-Taj: Since most discard cards have On Reveal abilities, they can take advantage of Kamar-Taj’s effect of activating On Reveal abilities twice. This is especially useful for Lady Sif since it means she can discard Apocalypse twice in a row for double the usual Power boost. 
  • Sokovia: While the card that Sokovia discards when it’s revealed is random, it can often benefit many cards in these decks. If it happens to hit Apocalypse, that would be a good time to snap. It can also help eliminate unnecessary cards to make it more likely that Dracula pulls Apocalypse at the end of the match.
  • Wakandan Embassy: Wakandan Embassy is a great location for most decks because it gives +2 Power to each card in your hand. However, it can be especially useful for Apocalypse decks if you have cards like Swarm, Wolverine, or Apocalypse in your hand since they get more Power or more copies when discarded. 
 

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